Blockchain and its Potential Uses, Part III

It’s been awhile guys. Did you enjoy the last two posts in the series? Please let us know what you think in the comment section below. This is the third part in the series, and we’ll be talking about blockchain potential uses in the music industry.

Similarly with other industries, the music industry could also benefit a lot from blockchain. Digital rights management is a landmine to navigate through. It can be very difficult to determine who owns the rights to songs and recordings – the songwriters, performers, producers, publishers or labels –  and consequently, how to split royalties among them.

Beyond that, digital revolution has far outpaced the music industry and has caused artists’ bottom lines to suffer. The advancement in technology has inadvertently open a gateway for users to download, copy, record and distribute content with neither permission nor compensation of its owner. So where does blockchain comes in?

As we all know, blockchain is essentially blocks that stores transactions which, once written, cannot be altered or removed. In music, the ledger can potentially store digital content of every song registered, including lyrics, composition, cover arts and most importantly licensing information.

Think of a song as Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency. Every time a song is downloaded, copied or distributed, blockchain records it on an immutable, distributed ledger. This way, blockchain not only offers a clear history of all transactions involving the song, it also removes intermediaries from the revenue chain. Artists would have direct relationship with consumers. Furthermore, they’ll get direct payment for their content instead of only a fraction of the overall revenue.

It’s definitely a win-win situation for independent artists, as well as their fans. There are a number of key players that has begun experimenting with blockchain technology. One of them, UjoMusic beta-tested their platform with the release of “Tiny Human”, a song by award winning British singer and songwriter Imogen Heap. The platform is in Ethereum, and it enables artists to manage their identities, music, and licensing on their own terms. Other key players in the industry include PeerTracks, BitTunes, and PledgeMusic. All of them offer different services to users but with similar objective: creating a healthy ecosystem where artists can offer their talent to the world and receive compensation for it.

Did you notice that so far we’ve only been talking about using blockchain to revolutionise the way we manage database? It’s true. Just as a refresher, we’ve touched on land registry, healthcare database management, digital certification, student records database and electoral system. We’ve explored blockchain’s most elemental feature as an immutable, transparent ledger to enhance the database system.

However, blockchain technology is more than that. Blockchain application can reach farther than just making database management more efficient. The execution of contracts (which we will talk in another post), as well as any other type of transactions besides monetary can also benefit from blockchain technology. In fact, almost every industry that exists can apply blockchain technology in their processes.

As more people start to take interest in it and explore the technology in-depth, you’ll find that the possibilities of blockchain potential uses are endless. To date, more than 800 patents have been filed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and of that, 150 have been issued. It’s apparent that a growing number of people are acknowledging that blockchain technology is becoming a necessity. The question is, are you one of them?

Next post, we’ll dive into smart contracts, which is another application of blockchain technology. Also, if you know of any other potential uses for blockchain that we might have missed, feel free to comment below. We’re also keen to know what our readers think about our posts. So don’t be a silent reader, your opinions matter. Till then!